In conversation with Simon Sebag Montefiore
The author shares his thoughts on hybridity, human nature and why historians don’t give good advice
Apart from thickish spectacles, Simon Sebag Montefiore bears little resemblance to the stereotype of the learned professor. A leading historian — his latest work, The World: A Family History, is a tour de force — he is dressed in jeans and trainers, exudes geniality, and is happy to chat without preconditions. “Ask away,” he says, “anything’s OK.”
Also unusual is that Montefiore isn’t keen on reinterpreting history — at least not in a polemical sense. “I don’t shout in the book, ‘This is a new take’, or ‘This is an up-to-date version’,” he says. Does that not mean The World lacks a centralising theory? The book is a remarkable chronicle of humankind’s existence, but what does Montefiore want us to take away? ..
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